The moment the Senate vote was polled the corridors, floors and galleries of both Houses were in an uproar, hundreds of women cheered and laughed and waved the suffrage colors, while in the rotunda a band swung into the strains of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Then Representatives and Senators became the guests of the State Suffrage Association, whose members having leased the Capitol restaurant for the day cooked and served an appetizing chicken dinner. There was a banquet at the St. Paul Hotel in the evening with 400 guests.

On that memorable day the curtain was rung down on the last act of the many years' long drama participated in by a vast host of consecrated women with inspired faith in the ultimate attainment of justice.

A conference was called for Oct. 28, 29, 1919, in Minneapolis and a State League of Women Voters was formed with Mrs. Ueland as chairman. It was voted to delay the dissolution of the State association until the 36 States had ratified the Federal Amendment and the date was set at the first annual meeting of the League.[97] Mrs. Ueland soon resigned to take the chairmanship of the Legislative Committee and was succeeded by Miss Wells, the vice-chairman.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. 1903. A Presidential suffrage bill was introduced in the House and energetically pushed but was not reported by the Judiciary Committee.

1905. A large delegation headed by Mrs. Stockwell, State president, called on Governor John A. Johnson and urged him to recommend woman suffrage in his message to the Legislature but he failed to do so. The resolution to submit a constitutional amendment was introduced in the House but not reported by the Judiciary Committee.

1907. After the resolution for a suffrage amendment was presented a hearing was granted by the Senate Elections Committee and the Senate Chamber secured for it through Senator Virgil B. Seward, who had charge of it. The college women were represented by Professor Frances Squire Potter of the University of Minnesota and the committee reported favorably. It was defeated in the Senate and not brought up in the House.

1909. At the hearing before the Joint Committee on Elections on the resolution for a State amendment, which was the largest ever held by the association, convincing addresses were made by eminent lawyers, educators and other public men. It was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 26; in the House by 50 to 46.

1911. The chairman of the Legislative Committee was Miss Mary McFadden, who carried out a demonstration on Susan B. Anthony's birthday—February 15—the presenting by large delegations from the Twin Cities of a Memorial to a joint gathering of the two Houses with pleas for a State amendment. The resolution for it, sponsored by Ole Sageng, passed the House a few days later by a majority of 81 but the liquor interests and public service corporations defeated it in the Senate by two votes.

1913. Senator Sageng again had charge of the suffrage resolution, which passed the House by a majority of 43 votes but failed in the Senate by three.

1915. Mrs. Andreas Ueland was chairman of the Legislative Committee from 1915 to 1919 inclusive. Senator Sageng presented the amendment resolution in the Senate and Representative Larson in the House. An impressive hearing was held in a crowded Senate chamber, with Senators J. W. Andrews, Richard Jones, Frank E. Putnam, F. H. Peterson and Ole Sageng making speeches in favor. Those who spoke against it were Senators George H. Sullivan, F. A. Duxbury and F. H. Pauly.[98] It failed by one vote and was not brought up in the House. A Presidential suffrage bill was also introduced but did not come to a vote.

1917. The suffrage work was confined to the Presidential suffrage bill which was defeated in the Senate by two votes.

1919. This Legislature adopted a resolution calling upon Congress to submit the Federal Suffrage Amendment; House 100 to 28 in favor, Senate 49 to 7. It was decided not to introduce an amendment resolution but to work for Presidential suffrage. The resolution was introduced, however, by a small group of women outside the association. It passed the House by 96 ayes, 26 noes, but was indefinitely postponed in the Senate. The bill giving women the right to vote for Presidential electors passed the House March 5 by 103 ayes, 24 noes; and the Senate March 21 by 49 ayes, 11 noes. It was signed by Governor J. A. A. Burnquist two days later in the presence of a group of suffragists.[99]

FOOTNOTES:

[91] The History is indebted for this chapter to Maud C. (Mrs. S. A.) Stockwell, for ten years president of the State Suffrage Association and for over twenty years a member of its executive board. Mrs. Stockwell wishes to acknowledge assistance from Mrs. David F. Simpson and Mrs. John A. Guise.

[92] A State Anti-Suffrage Association was organized in Minneapolis in 1912 and later branches were formed in other cities. The president was Mrs. J. B. Gilfillan of Minneapolis and other active workers were Mrs. E. L. Carpenter, Mrs. Edmund Pennington and Mrs. Frank Reed of Minneapolis, Mrs. J. W. Straight of St. Paul and Mrs. J. L. Washburn of Duluth. Time was given to their speakers at the last three hearings granted the State Suffrage Association by the Legislature. Miss Minnie Bronson, secretary of the National Anti-Suffrage Association, came from New York for one.

[93] Too much credit for the final success of woman suffrage in Minnesota can not be given to Mrs. Ueland, president of the association for the last five years of its existence. She organized the entire State, raised large sums of money each year, induced many prominent women to join in the work, carried out the instructions of the National Association to the letter, secured legislation, and not only took advantage of every opportunity for propaganda but created opportunities.

[94] In 1915 the Congressional Union, afterward the National Woman's Party, formed an organization in St. Paul with Mrs. Alexander Colvin chairman. The members were recruited from the State association and for a few years were active in both organizations.

[95] During the twenty years covered by this chapter the Twin City suffragists never failed to keep open house during the State Fair, where speakers were heard and literature was distributed.

[96] Following are the names of State officers besides the presidents who served over three years: Vice-presidents, Mrs. Jenova Martin, four years; Mrs. David F. Simpson, three years; Mrs. H. G. Harrison, five years; Mrs. E. A. Brown, four years; Mrs. C. L. Atwood, six years; Dr. Margaret Koch, vice-president, three years and treasurer, ten years; Dr. Ethel E. Hurd of Minneapolis served on the board in different capacities for twenty-two years, as corresponding secretary for four years and recording secretary four; Mrs. Eva W. Morse, recording secretary five years; Mrs. Victor H. Troendle, treasurer five years. Those who served from four to ten years as directors on the State board were: Mesdames A. T. Anderson, Julia B. Nelson, Margaret K. Rogers, E. A. Russell, C. F. Lutz, Elizabeth McClary, A. H. Bright and A. B. Jackson.

[97] Following are a few names not mentioned elsewhere in the chapter of the many devoted friends and workers during the score of years: Dr. Cyrus Northrup, Professor Maria Sanford, Judge A. C. Hickman, Professor A. W. Rankin, Dr. Elizabeth Woodworth, Mesdames Margaret K. Rogers, Martha A. Dorsett, May Dudley Greeley, M. A. Luley, Eva S. Jerome, Alice Taylor, Lilla P. Clark, Milton E. Purdy, C. P. Noyes, Adelaide Lawrence, O. J. Evans, George M. Partridge, J. W. Andrews, C. M. Stockton, Stiles Burr, J. M. Guise, J. W. Straight; Misses Ella Whitney, A. A. Connor, Nellie Merrill, Hope McDonald, Josephine Schain, Blanche Segar, Cornelia Lusk, Martha Anderson (Wyman); Messrs. C. W. Dorsett, S. R. Child, A. H. Bright.

[98] For ten years Senator Sullivan of Stillwater, and for twenty-two years Senator W. W. Dunn, attorney for the Hamm Brewing Company of St. Paul, worked actively against all suffrage legislation, in late years being able to defeat bills by only two or three votes.

[99] Among legislators not mentioned who were helpful during these years were Senator S. A. Stockwell and Representatives W. I. Norton, H. H. Harrison, W. I. Nolan, Sherman Child, John Sanborn and Claude Southwick.



CHAPTER XXIII.

MISSISSIPPI.[100]

From 1899 to 1906 no State convention of the Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association was held. Mrs. Hala Hammond Butt, who was elected president at its second annual convention in Clarksdale in 1899, acted as president during this time but the editing of a weekly newspaper in addition to other duties left her little time for its trying demands at this early stage of its existence. Among the few other women consecrated in their hearts to woman suffrage some were barred from leadership by ill health, some by family cares, while others were absent from the State most of the time. No definite progress, therefore, was made during the early years of the century.

In 1901 Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, gave addresses in six cities in the State, arrangements for which were made by local suffragists, and a great deal of interest was aroused. In 1903 a business conference was held in Jackson, at which Mrs. Butt and three other women were present, to consider whether anything could be done for the cause of woman suffrage. In 1904 enrollment cards were distributed in a limited and unsystematic way, letters were sent to members of the Legislature, State officials and others and literature was distributed. An inspiring feature was the visit of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president at large of the National Association, who spoke in three cities.

Early in December, 1906, Miss Belle Kearney of Flora, formerly organizer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, at this time a public lecturer, returned from an absence in Europe and on the 21st, in response to a call sent out by her, a meeting was held in the parlor of the Edwards House in Jackson. Those in attendance were Miss Kearney, Mrs. Butt, Mrs. Edward Sloan and Dr. Delia Randall. By invitation Dr. William La Prade of the First Methodist Church opened the meeting with prayer, after which he retired leaving these four women to reorganize the State Suffrage Association. Mrs. Nellie Nugent Somerville of Greenville was in touch with the conference by telegraph and Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson of Jackson, physically unable to attend, received reports from the meeting at her telephone. In this historic hour the breath of a new life was blown into the expiring association and from that time it grew and thrived. The officers elected were Miss Kearney, president; Mrs. Somerville, vice-president; Mrs. Thompson, treasurer.

During the following spring Miss Kearney, lecturing in the State on sociological subjects, spoke unfailingly for suffrage and wherever possible organized clubs. Press work was taken up earnestly by the newly elected superintendent of that department, Mrs. Thompson. All of the over two hundred editors in the State were interviewed by letter in regard to their attitude towards woman suffrage and space was requested for suffrage items. Twenty-one agreed to publish them, only two openly declining. Among the friendly editors were L. Pink Smith of the Greenville Democrat, J. R. Oliphant of the Poplarville Free Press, Frank R. Birdsall of the Yazoo Sentinel, C. E. Glassco of the Cleveland Enterprise, Joseph Norwood of the Magnolia Gazette, James Faulk of the Greene County Herald.

Adverse articles were carefully answered and private letters were sent, the enemy quietly reasoned with and in most cases converted. News bulletins furnished by the national press department were used but most of the matter sent out was prepared at home in the belief that an ounce of Mississippi was worth a pound of Massachusetts. Articles published in leaflet form and distributed broadcast were written by Mrs. Somerville, Miss Kearney, Mrs. Thompson, the Rev. Thomas K. Mellen and the Rev. H. Walter Featherstun, Methodist ministers. One of the most valuable contributions was The Legal Status of Mississippi Women, by Robert Campbell, an attorney of Greenville.

In November, 1907, a conference lasting five days was held at Jackson in the home of Charles H. Thompson, a devoted suffragist, and his wife, Lily Wilkinson Thompson. Among those attending were Miss Kearney, Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Harriet B. Kells, president of the State W. C. T. U. and a life-long suffragist; Miss Laura Clay of Kentucky and Miss Kate Gordon of Louisiana. The advisability of attempting to have a woman suffrage measure introduced in the next session of the Legislature was considered. Two men besides the host appeared at this conference, a reporter, who regarded the meeting as something of a joke, and the Hon. R. H. Thompson of Jackson, an eminent lawyer, who came to offer sympathetic advice. Visits were made to the Governor, James K. Vardaman, and other State officials; to the Hinds county legislators who had recently been elected and to others. Most of these gentlemen were polite but bored and it was decided to defer legislative action. When two months later Governor Vardaman sent his farewell message to the Legislature he mentioned woman suffrage as one of the questions "pressing for solution in a National Constitutional Convention."

In the spring of 1908 the State convention was held in the Governor's Mansion at Jackson, Governor and Mrs. Edmund Favor Noel giving the parlors for the meeting. Six clubs were reported and State members at twelve places. Three or four women from outside of Jackson were present, Mrs. Pauline Alston Clark of Clarksdale having come from the greatest distance, and about fourteen were in attendance. The officers elected were: President, Mrs. Somerville; vice-presidents, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Fannie Clark, Mrs. Kells; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Pauline Clark; recording secretary, Dr. Randall; treasurer, Mrs. Sarah Summers Wilkinson. Superintendents were appointed for Press, Legislative, Enrollment, Industrial, Educational and Bible Study departments.

In the spring of 1909, the convention was held in the ladies' parlor of the Capitol at Jackson. It lasted two days, a public evening session being held in the Senate Chamber, at which Miss Kate Gordon, corresponding secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, told of the work of the Era Club of New Orleans; Miss Jean Gordon, factory inspector for that city, spoke in behalf of child labor regulations and Mrs. Thompson gave a report of the press work, which had grown to such proportions that it was considered very significant of advance in suffrage sentiment throughout the State. The Rev. George Whitfield, a venerable Baptist minister, came from the neighboring town of Clinton and conducted devotional exercises and gave a talk on woman's position from a Biblical standpoint. R. K. Jayne of Jackson, an early suffragist, also spoke. At this time dues-paying members were reported from seventeen towns. Mrs. Somerville was re-elected president.

The annual convention was held in Greenville in 1910. Dr. Shaw and Miss Ray Costello of England made addresses; Judge E. N. Thomas of Greenville presided at one of the evening meetings; John L. Hebron, a Delta planter and afterwards State Senator, made an earnest speech of endorsement. It was reported that hundreds of letters were written and the association had gained a hold in fifty places, ranging from rural neighborhoods and plantation settlements to the largest towns. Frederick Sullens, editor of the Jackson Daily News, had given space for a weekly suffrage column edited by Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. J. C. Greenley edited a similar column in the Greenville Democrat. Mrs. Madge Quin Fugler supplied five papers and Mrs. Montgomery two. Miss Ida Ward of Greenville wrote articles for the papers of that town and Mrs. Mohlenhoff edited a column in the Cleveland Enterprise. Among other papers publishing suffrage material were the McComb City Journal and the Enterprise and the Magnolia Gazette. From the press superintendent there had gone out 1,700 articles, ranging in length from a paragraph to a half page, many of them written by her, and they were given prominence in special editions. Ten copies of the Woman's Journal which came from the national press department for years were forwarded to college, town and State libraries and to editors. How far and deep the influence of those Journals reached is beyond computation.

In the fall of 1910 the State association joined the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association in a booth at the Tri-State Fair in Memphis. An interesting feature was the press exhibit, consisting of a width of canvass many yards long on which had been pasted clippings from Mississippi newspapers, suffrage argument and favorable comment. The annual convention was held in Cleveland in 1911. Miss Gordon and Judge Thomas spoke at the evening session. Editor C. E. Glasco gave an earnest talk at a morning session. The department chairmen brought encouraging reports of their work. A letter was read from Colonel Clay Sharkey of Jackson, which later was published in leaflet form.

The State meeting was held at Flora in April, 1912. Mrs. Judith Hyams Douglas, president of the Era Club of New Orleans, and Omar Garwood of Colorado, secretary of the National Men's League for Woman Suffrage, were the principal speakers. The president, Mrs. Somerville, recommended that the various State organizations of women be invited to unite with the suffrage association in forming a central committee to secure such legislation as should be agreed upon by all. This was afterwards accepted by the Federation of Women's Clubs and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Resolutions were passed regretting the retirement from the presidency of Mrs. Somerville, to whose good generalship during the past four years the success of the association was in a large part due. Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson was elected president.

In response to the call to take part in the parade in Washington March 3, 1913, Mrs. Avery Harrell Thompson, temporarily residing there, was put in charge and with her husband, Harmon L. Thompson, arranged for a handsome float, on which Miss Fannie May Witherspoon, daughter of the member of Congress, represented Mississippi. Mr. Gibbs, a Mississippian, carried the purple and gold silk banner of the State Suffrage Association and four other young Mississippians, Judge Allen Thompson and his brother, Harmon, Walter and Edward Dent, marched beside the float, preforming valiant volunteer police duty when it became necessary. During this year the enrolled membership increased four-fold. Quarterly reports, nearly a thousand, were printed for the first time instead of written. A letter from the Irish Women's League of Dublin and one from the English Women's Equal Rights Union to the State president indicated the world-wide spirit of fraternalism which embraced even Mississippi's modest organization. Good work was done by the new superintendent of press work, Mrs. Dent. Not only did editors by this time willingly accept material but some of them wrote favorable editorials. The Yazoo City Herald, edited by N. A. Mott, was a new recruit. The Purple and White, a Millsaps College paper, was supplied with suffrage material by a bright senior, Janie Linfield.

For the first time suffrage headquarters were maintained at the State Fair by the Equity League of Jackson. Furnishings were loaned by Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Warren from their beautiful home "Fairview." A rest room for mothers and babies was provided, other tired visitors were also welcomed and the suffrage booth was the most popular place on the grounds. For the first time the association was invited to take part on Woman's Day at the State Fair, when representatives from the women's State organizations held a joint meeting, and the president, Mrs. Thompson, spoke for the suffragists.

Letters were sent to the Mississippi members of Congress urging them to vote for the Federal Suffrage Amendment and to President Wilson, pleading for his favorable consideration. Motion pictures were utilized in three ways—suffrage plays were shown, local clubs selling tickets received a part of the proceeds and suffrage slogans were thrown on the slides between pictures.

The State convention was held in the Senate Chamber of the new Capitol at Jackson in April, 1913. At the evening sessions all seats on the floor were taken, the galleries filled and chairs brought from committee rooms to accommodate the audiences. Music was furnished by the Chaminade Club of Jackson. Mayor Swepson I. Taylor gave the address of welcome. Others who spoke were Mrs. Fannie S. Clark, Mrs. E. T. Edmonds, president of the Equity League, and Mrs. Royden-Douglas, president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. In her president's address Mrs. Thompson recommended that the association ask the next Legislature to submit to the voters a State constitutional amendment giving women the ballot, and this was unanimously adopted. The Rev. E. T. Edmonds of the First Christian Church of Jackson spoke on Woman Suffrage in New Zealand, where he had been a resident.

Letters to the president and secretary from U. S. Senators John Sharp Williams and James K. Vardaman were read in reply to appeals that they vote for the Federal Amendment. Senator Vardaman said that when the amendment came up he would "be glad to vote for it." Senator Williams said that he thought "the federal government ought not attempt to control a State in the exercise of this privilege," that he favored a "white woman's primary, in which the women of the State might say whether they wanted the ballot or not" and that he thought women just as competent to use it as men but did not approve of "forcing it upon them." He was "inclined to woman suffrage" and believed that "with safeguards it might be made a bulwark of white supremacy in the State." The large reception planned by Governor and Mrs. Earl Brewer had to be omitted because of the sudden illness of Mrs. Brewer. On account of home demands Mrs. Thompson declined re-election and Mrs. Dent was made president.

Under Mrs. Dent's administration the work prospered and advanced in popular favor. In the fall "woman suffrage day" was for the first time on the calendar of the State Fair. Headquarters were again maintained, for which space three times as large as that used the previous year was occupied. Mrs. Dent, a successful cotton planter, brought a bale of cotton from her plantation and presented it to the headquarters, where it afforded a unique platform for the speakers. Women from different parts of the State came to act as hostesses and take part in the speaking. This year a college contest was conducted by Mrs. Thompson, who offered a gold medal for the best argument for woman suffrage written by a college student of the State. Six of the largest colleges were represented and the medal was won by Mrs. Pearl Powell, of the Industrial Institute and College.

In April, 1914, the State convention was again held in Jackson. Among the speakers were Rabbi Brill of Meridian and Mrs. Alex Y. Scott of Memphis. Mrs. Dent was re-elected president. In the fall for the first time there was a suffrage section in the parade that marked the opening of the State Fair. Six women, gowned in white and wearing yellow silk Votes for Women badges marched—Mrs. Ella O. Biggs and Miss Sadie Goeber bearing a banner inscribed Women vote in twelve States, why not in Mississippi? followed by Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Avery Harrell Thompson, Mrs. Sarah C. Watts and Mrs. R. W. Durfey and they were generously cheered along the way.

In the spring of 1915 the State convention was held in Greenville. Dr. Shaw was a guest, stopping on her way to Jackson, where under the auspices of the Equity League she spoke in the House of Representatives to a large audience, many standing throughout her address, which made a profound impression. The convention was well attended. Some of the interesting features were "an hour for men" presided over by Congressman B. G. Humphries, with excellent speeches; a five o'clock tea, given by the Belvidere Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the presentation of the motion picture play, Your Girl and Mine. Miss Pauline V. Orr was elected president. Miss Orr served as president for two years, widely extending the influence of the association through the hundreds of young women who came under her instruction at the Industrial Institute and College, where for many years she held the chair of English.

The annual convention was held in 1916 in the city hall in Meridian, where nineteen years before the State Woman Suffrage Association was organized, and Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs of Alabama, auditor of the National Association, made an address on the opening evening. During the following year eight new leagues were formed. The convention met in Starkville in April, 1917, and addresses were made by Dr. Shaw, Miss Margaret Hamilton Erwin, president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association; Mrs. Walter McNab Miller, first vice-president of the National Association; Mrs. W. H. Price, president of the Mississippi Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Mrs. Edward F. McGehee, president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Miss Orr, the president, declining re-election was succeeded by Mrs. McGehee. The United States had now entered the war and the suffragists began to concentrate on war work. As chairman of the Woman's Committee, Mississippi Division of the National Council of Defense, she was able to help popularize woman suffrage.[101]

In April, 1918, a one-day conference was held in the Capitol at Jackson, when Mrs. Marion B. Trotter of Winona was elected president and brought a great deal of energy and enthusiasm into her office. No convention was held in 1919 but at the close of the meeting of the State Federation of Women's Clubs in Clarksdale in November a conference of the suffragists present was called. It was there decided to organize to support the ratification of the Federal Amendment, which had been submitted by Congress and was to come before the Legislature the following January. Mrs. B. F. Saunders of Swan Lake, retiring president of the federation, was made chairman of the Ratification Committee; Mrs. Trotter, treasurer; Mrs. Somerville chairman of Petition and Press Work; Mrs. McClurg chairman of Finance. By request the National Association sent into the State its organizers, Miss Watkins of Arkansas and Miss Peshakova of New York. Mrs. Cunningham, president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and a national worker, also came to assist. Petitions were circulated, leaflets published and distributed, newspapers enlisted and legislators systematically interviewed. The organization thus speedily effected worked during the session of 1920. In April of this year the convention of the State Federation, held in Gulfport, closed with a "suffrage luncheon," a brilliant affair attended by 125 prominent men and women. Speeches were made by the Hon. Barney Eaton, a lawyer of Gulfport; Mrs. S. P. Covington, its president, and others. The State League of Women Voters was organized at this time with Miss Blanche Rogers chairman.

It had been the hope for years to have an endorsement of woman suffrage from the Federation of Women's Clubs, a strong and popular organization numbering over 3,000 of the State's leading women. During its annual meeting in 1916 Miss Orr, president of the State Suffrage Association, had introduced a favorable resolution and with Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. J. W. McGrath of Canton, Mrs. William Baldwin of Columbus and Mrs. W. S. Lott of Meridian led the fight for suffrage. Mrs. William R. Wright of Jackson headed the opposition, which asked for the postponement of the question until the next year and won. At the next convention, held in Meridian in 1917, the resolution was introduced by Miss Ann Rothenberg (now Mrs. Rosenbaum) of Meridian and passed almost unanimously. In 1919 at the annual meeting held in Clarksdale, during the presidency of Mrs. Saunders, a resolution endorsing the ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment was carried with but one dissenting vote, that of Mrs. Lizzie George Henderson of Greenwood, daughter of the late U. S. Senator J. Z. George. When the League of Women Voters was formed the next year Mrs. Henderson was among the first to join it.

In 1919, the State Teachers' Association passed unanimously a resolution endorsing woman suffrage introduced by Professor Frederick Davis Mellen of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, the son of the late Reverend Thomas L. Mellen, one of Mississippi's earliest suffragists. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union here as elsewhere was a great school for women, teaching them the need of the ballot, and the majority of its members were suffragists but all through the years the minority, who did not want the question brought into the Union, overruled their wishes. Mrs. Harriet B. Kells, the president for many years and a lifelong suffragist, was not able to overcome this situation and it never endorsed woman suffrage.

There never has been any organized opposition among Mississippi women. During the session of the Legislature in 1920 there was an open attempt to organize opposition to ratification of the Federal Amendment but it failed.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. After the suffrage association in 1913 decided to ask for the submission of an amendment to the State constitution to enfranchise women the preliminary work of interviewing legislators and distributing appropriate literature was conducted by the chairman of the Legislative Committee, Mrs. Nellie Nugent Somerville, the president, Mrs. Annie Kinkead Dent, and other members. The president at her own expense sent the Woman's Journal and other literature to all legislators for three months. The concurrent resolution asking for the submission was introduced in the House Jan. 9, 1914, by N. A. Mott of Yazoo county. Senator Hall Sanders of Tallahatchie county offered it in the Senate three days later. The House Committee on Constitution, to which the bill was referred, granted a hearing, at which speeches were made by Mrs. Monroe McClurg, Miss Belle Kearney, Mrs. Somerville, Miss Kate Gordon (La.), Judge Allen Thompson and Colonel Clay Sharkey. The committee reported unfavorably by a majority of one. A minority report was made by the chairman, Henry A. Minor of Noxubee county, and others. Representative Mott offered a resolution inviting the women to present their case in the House the next day, which was carried by a close vote about one o'clock in the afternoon and the hearing was set for ten the next morning. The Daily News had gone to press and the Clarion Ledger, a morning paper, had some time before forbidden its columns to any news or notices in any way favoring woman suffrage or advertising it.

The president of the Equity League of Jackson, Mrs. J. W. Tucker, with her assistants, announced the hearing over the telephone, the legislators spread the story and when the women who were to speak filed into the House on that memorable morning of January 21 they found all available space occupied and the galleries overflowing. An invitation was sent to the Senators to come over but so many had already deserted their posts for the House that there was not a quorum to vote on the invitation. Hilary Quin of Hinds county, Speaker of the House, presided, introducing the speakers and extending every possible courtesy. They were Mrs. McClurg, Miss Kearney, Miss Orr, Miss Gordon, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Dent and Mrs. Somerville. The speeches made so profound an impression that hardly had the last word been spoken when there came a loud and insistent call from the enemies for adjournment. The bill was presented next day. Emmett Cavette of Noxubee county strongly championed it and Speaker Quin left the chair to make a speech in its favor. Representative S. Joe Owen of Union county vigorously led the fight against it and it was lost by 80 noes, 42 ayes.

In 1916 the women's organizations united in a bill making women eligible to serve as county school superintendents and on the boards of educational and benevolent institutions. During the session of 1918 the suffrage association being in the midst of war work took no initiative in behalf of legislation but Senator Earl Richardson of Neshoba county on his own account introduced in the Senate a concurrent resolution to amend the State constitution. The members of the Equity League gave assistance; Mrs. Isaac Reese of Memphis was invited to come to the Capitol and on the day the vote was taken she and Miss Kearney made brief speeches before the Senate. On motion of Senator P. E. Carothers the question was submitted without debate, which was a disappointment to its friends, H. H. Casteel of Holmes county declaring that he had remained up nearly all of the night before preparing his speech. The vote was a tie, 21 to 21. The House took no action.

Through the years the officers and members of the State and local suffrage associations united with those of other women's organizations to obtain laws. The age of consent was raised first to 12, then to 16 and in 1914 to 18; better child labor laws were secured; the law permitting a father to dispose of the children by will at his death was repealed. It is a fact not generally known that Mississippi was the pioneer State in securing to married women the right to own and dispose of property. This was done by an Act of the Legislature on Feb. 15, 1839.

RATIFICATION. Congress submitted the Federal Amendment in June, and the Ratification Committee was organized in November. It opened its headquarters in Jackson at the beginning of the legislative session in January, 1920, after having made a whirlwind campaign. At the initial meeting of the committee in Clarksburg there had been great enthusiasm and women gave money as they never had done before. Mrs. B. F. Saunders was made chairman and among those who worked with her in Jackson were Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Trotter, Mrs. Sam Covington, Miss Blanche Rogers, Mrs. Thompson, Miss Kearney, Mrs. Annie Neely and Mrs. Cunningham of Texas. The legislators were systematically interviewed, literature distributed, petitions circulated and the press kept supplied with arguments and news.

Mrs. Thompson, in charge of the Jackson press, wrote innumerable articles, and Mrs. Somerville and others contributed to the press work. Letters, telegrams and petitions from all over the State urging ratification poured in daily upon both Houses. Delegations of women came to urge their representatives to vote for ratification. Nine influential women came from Lauderdale county bringing a petition of 2,100 names of prominent people obtained in a day and a half and begged their representatives to vote for the amendment but not one of them did so.

Many of the State's leading newspapers were in favor of ratification. The Daily News of Jackson, in keeping with its policy for years, gave editorial support and generously of its space. The Clarion Ledger, also a Jackson daily, boasted of being the only paper in the State which openly fought ratification. The editor, Colonel Hiram Henry, a veteran journalist of the State, always bitterly opposed to any form of woman suffrage, began his attack weeks before the Legislature met and daily during the session the pages of his paper reeked with hatred for the cause. The literature of the "antis" was largely copied and extracts from negro journals published in the North were reproduced in glaring headlines, extracts so offensive that had they been used against any cause save that of disfranchised women would have been suppressed. It was through his influence that Mrs. Cola Barr Craig, once a resident of Jackson, and Mrs. James S. Pinckard of Alabama came early in January to organize a branch of what they called the Southern Women's Rejection League. They held a public meeting in the Carnegie library, at which besides the two speakers, there were nineteen women present, many of them the old friends of Mrs. Craig. No one would take even the temporary chairmanship and the attempt to organize failed ignominiously. Not daunted Mr. Henry sent for Miss Kate Gordon of New Orleans, a veteran suffragist who had joined hands with the "antis" in fighting ratification. She was advertised for a speech at the Carnegie library and all legislators were urged to attend. Two legislators and fifteen women were present, six of the latter State workers for ratification.

The retiring and incoming State officials were almost to a man outspoken in their advocacy of ratification. Governor Theodore G. Bilbo, the retiring Governor, instead of having the clerk of the House read his farewell message, according to time honored custom, delivered it in person. Woman suffrage was its conspicuous feature and after a profound argument for ratification of the Federal Amendment, he closed his remarks with the solemn statement: "Woe to that man who raises his hand against the onward march of this progressive movement!" The newly elected Governor, Lee M. Russell, in his inaugural address, delivered in front of the Capitol to an audience of thousands, devoted more time to woman suffrage than to any other topic, making a clear cut, logical argument for ratification and a powerful plea for the enfranchisement of women.

On January 21, W. A. Winter, Representative from Grenada county, offered the following resolution: "Resolved that the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States be and hereby is rejected as an unwarranted, unnecessary and dangerous interference with the rights reserved to the States, or to the people, in both State and Federal Constitutions...." This came without warning to the friends of ratification and was not referred to a committee but rushed to a vote after Representative Guy W. Mitchell of Lee county had spoken strongly against it. It was carried by a vote of 94 ayes to 25 noes and the announcement received with cheers and laughter. Sennett Conner of Covington county was the Speaker of the House whose ruling permitted this unparliamentary action.

Sent to the Senate the Winter Resolution of Rejection was referred to the Committee on Constitution, of which Senator Minor was chairman. At the meeting of the committee W. B. Mixon of Pike county was authorized to draft a resolution ratifying the amendment, to be offered in the Senate as a substitute. This was done and Senators Minor, Mixon and Fred B. Smith made a majority report. This resolution was earnestly advocated by Senators Percy Bell and Walton Shields of Washington county, W. B. Roberts of Bolivar, Fred B. Smith of Union, A. A. Cohn of Lincoln and E. F. Noel of Holmes. It failed of adoption and the Winter resolution was recommitted to the Committee on Constitution, where it remained.

In the meantime Senator Mixon had introduced a bill in the Senate giving the right to women to vote in Primary elections and Representative A. J. Whitworth of Pike county a similar one in the House. In Mississippi a nomination is equivalent to an election. Both bills were defeated. A resolution for a woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution to be submitted to the voters at the election of November, 1920, passed both Houses with very little opposition. During the last three weeks of the session Senator Mixon introduced a bill giving the right of suffrage to women in the event of the ratification of the Federal Amendment by thirty-six Legislatures, thus enabling them to vote in the August primaries, and Representative Whitworth introduced two bills, one giving suffrage to women in primary elections and the other in general elections, both contingent upon ratification. These bills passed without opposition.

During the last week of the Legislature Senator Roberts called out of the committee the original Winter Resolution of Rejection and in Committee of the Whole it was amended by striking out the word "reject" and substituting the word "ratify." Thus amended the vote in the Senate stood 21 ayes, 21 noes and Lieutenant Governor H. H. Casteel broke the tie in favor of its adoption. News of the Senate's favorable action spread all over the country in a few hours. Telegrams came pouring in to the Governor and Legislature offering congratulations and appealing to the House to make Mississippi the 36th State to ratify.

The Senate substitute was presented to the House the next afternoon, March 31. Representative Winter moved that the House "do not concur with the Senate Resolution of Ratification." Immediately there came calls for the vote. Telegrams were on the Speaker's stand from William Jennings Bryan, Homer Cummings, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and many other prominent Democrats. A vote was taken as to whether these should be read to the House. Representative E. M. Lane of Smith county, although an opponent of ratification, made an earnest appeal that the courtesy of a hearing should be accorded these national party leaders. A vote of 65 to 32 decided that the telegrams should not be read. Governor Russell had stated that he desired the privilege of the floor to make an appeal in behalf of ratification but this courtesy was denied him. Representatives T. D. Rees of Prentiss county and Walter Sillers of Bolivar spoke in favor of ratification but were poorly heard so great was the confusion and so loud and insistent the calls for the vote. Representative Mitchell was absent. Dr. Whitworth (author of three suffrage bills at this session) spoke against ratification and while he was speaking Representative R. H. Watts of Rankin county interpolated, "I would die and go to hell before I would vote for it." The substitute was defeated by 94 noes, 23 ayes.

Thus was banished forever the dream of Mississippi suffragists that the women would receive the ballot from the men of this great State. Speaker Sennett Conner was responsible above every one else for the defeat of ratification. Its chance was weakened by the fact that Mississippi's entire delegation in Congress, including Senators John Sharp Williams and "Pat" Harrison had voted against submitting the Federal Amendment.

Did space permit there would be added to the names mentioned in this chapter many others who gave "aid and comfort" to the cause. Among those who never failed when asked to help with financial burdens was the late Major R. W. Millsaps, founder of Millsaps College for men and women. The army of active suffragists was never large. Many women wanted the ballot but comparatively few were under conviction to work for it. To those who did, especially in early, trying days, belongs that indescribable exultation which is the portion of those who help onward a great revolutionary movement for the uplift of the race.

The amendment to the State constitution was voted on at the general election in November, 1920, and received 39,186 ayes, 24,296 noes but it was not carried, as the law requires a majority of all the votes cast at the election. As the women were already enfranchised by the Federal Amendment they did not make a campaign for it but as registration is necessary four months before election and the ratification did not take place until two months before this one, they were not able to vote, Mississippi and Georgia being the only two States that denied this privilege.

FOOTNOTES:

[100] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson, an officer in the State Suffrage Association from its organization until its work was finished.

[101] Besides those mentioned the following served on the official board: Mrs. Jimmie Andrews Lipscomb, Mrs. Nella Lawrence Lee, Miss Mattie Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Annie Kinkead Dent, Mrs. Ella O. Biggs, Mrs. Alma Dorsey Birdsall, Mrs. Durrant, Mrs. Edith Marshall Tucker, Mrs. Mary Powell Crane, Miss Ethel Clagett, Mrs. C. C. Miller, Mrs. T. F. Buntin, Miss Estelle Crane, Miss Nannie Herndon Rice.



CHAPTER XXIV.

MISSOURI.[102]

When the last volume of the history of woman suffrage was written in 1900 Missouri was one of the blackest spots on the suffrage map and there was little to indicate that it would ever be lighter. The able and courageous women who inaugurated the movement in 1867, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. Beverly Allen, Mrs. Rebecca Hazzard, Miss Phoebe Couzins and Mrs. Sarah Chandler Coates, were no longer living or past the age for strenuous work. A few women kept up a semblance of a State organization, met annually and in 1901 Mrs. Addie Johnson was elected president; in 1902 Mrs. Louis Werth and in 1903 Mrs. Alice Mulkley, but there was great apathy among women in general. From 1903 to 1910 no State convention was held. In St. Louis, which comprised one-fourth of the inhabitants of the State, there was no visible organization working for woman suffrage. The largest and most influential woman's club refused to allow the subject on its programs. During the decade to 1910 only one speaker of national prominence came into the State—Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association—and evidently at the national headquarters Missouri was considered too hopeless to consider.

The movement was only smoldering, however, and needed but a spark to burst into flame and that spark came from afar—from the torch held high by the "militant" suffragists of England. In no State perhaps was there more bitter invective hurled at them than by the press and people of Missouri but the conscience of the convinced suffragists was aroused. Stirring addresses in St. Louis by Stanton Coit of London and John Lovejoy Elliott of New York in defense of the English "militants" brought matters to a crisis and a few bold spirits decided to reorganize the scattered suffrage forces.

In March, 1910, Mrs. Florence Wyman Richardson, Miss Marie R. Garesche and Miss Florence Richardson (later Mrs. Roland R. Usher) barely out of her teens, renounced society and invited twenty or twenty-five women, whom they thought might be interested, to meet in Miss Garesche's home. Only five responded, Miss Bertha Rombauer, Miss Jennie M. A. Jones, Mrs. Robert Atkinson, Miss Lillian Heltzell and Mrs. Dan Knefler. Not at all daunted it was decided as a first step to engage a prominent lecturer. Miss Ethel Arnold, the well-known Englishwoman, a suffragist but not a "militant," was then touring this country and before the meeting adjourned a telegram was sent to her and the eight women present guaranteed the sum to cover her charge and the rent of a hall. As her itinerary would bring her to St. Louis about the middle of April it was thought best to organize immediately, so that the publicity which would undoubtedly be given to Miss Arnold would be shared by the infant society. A circular letter outlining the project was sent broadcast and April 8 about fifty women gathered at the residence of Mrs. Richardson and effected an organization. Thus came into being the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League, which was destined to play the principal part in winning the vote for the women of the State. The following officers were elected: President, Mrs. Richardson; first vice-president, Miss Garesche; second, Mrs. Atkinson; corresponding secretary, Miss Rombauer; recording secretary, Miss Heltzell; treasurer, Mrs. Knefler; auditor, Mrs. Leslie Thompson.

Miss Arnold's lecture took place April 11 and her charm, culture and cogent reasoning won many friends to the cause and disarmed many of its opponents. Branch organizations were soon formed in the northern and southern parts of the city with Mrs. Atlanta Hecker and Miss Cecilia Razovsky as presidents. Meetings were held in the Cabanne Branch Library and before the end of the year the members had increased to 275.[103] During the first year the league brought a number of lecturers to the city, realizing that this was the most valuable form of propaganda in a community so entrenched in conservatism. Among them were Mr. and Mrs. Philip Snowden of England; Professor Frances Squire Potter of the University of Minnesota; Mrs. Lucia Ames Mead of Boston; Professor Nathaniel Schmidt of Cornell and Professor Earl Barnes of Philadelphia.

On Nov. 3, 1911, Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst of England, at the invitation of the league, lectured in the Odeon, the largest hall in the city, to an audience that taxed its capacity. Her charming personality set at rest all fears as to the ill effect of suffrage, even of the "militant" variety, on feminine grace and refinement. Soon afterwards the Mary Institute Alumnae Association invited Miss Sylvia Pankhurst to lecture and the result was most gratifying to the friends of suffrage.

The old State organization having ceased to exist the St. Louis league with its branches and the recently formed Webster Groves Suffrage League, Mrs. Lee Roseborough, president, met in St. Louis Feb. 14, 1911, and organized a State Woman Suffrage Association, which affiliated with the National American Association. The officers were: President, Mrs. Atkinson; vice-president, Mrs. Morrison-Fuller; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Boyd; recording secretary, Miss Rombauer; treasurer, Miss Jane Thompson; auditor, Mrs. R. D. McArthur. Owing to various causes this board was in a few months reduced to three working members, Mrs. Atkinson, Mrs. Boyd and Miss Rombauer. Realizing that it must enlist the support of the press they sent out letters to a long list of the State editors and favorable replies were received from twenty-six, who promised to give a weekly column in their papers for suffrage news and propaganda. All the libraries were written to and a number of them induced to procure the four large volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage, generously offered by the National Association. The librarians, who were often women, were asked to keep on hand a supply of suffrage literature. The St. Louis public library, at the suggestion of the board, made a special exhibit of this literature, much of which was new. In the center of the exhibit was a large picture of William T. Harris, former superintendent of schools in St. Louis and later U. S. Commissioner of Education, with his strong testimony in favor of woman suffrage.

Mrs. Atkinson was permitted to make an address on suffrage before the State Federation of Women's Clubs at Sedalia but no action was taken. She also addressed a large audience at the dedication of the Woman's Building which had been erected by the Legislature on the State Fair grounds near that city and Mrs. Walter McNab Miller of Columbia also made an address. The board paid a lawyer to compile the State laws for women under the direction of E. M. Grossman. Mrs. Atkinson, Mrs. Boyd and Mrs. John L. Lowes of St. Louis and Mrs. Virginia Hedges of Warrensburg went as delegates to the convention of the National Association in 1911 at Louisville, where much satisfaction was expressed that Missouri had at last come into the fold. The Kansas City League was organized this year with Mrs. Henry N. Ess, president; Miss Helen Osborn, secretary; and Mrs. Helena Cramer Leavens, treasurer. The women of Warrensburg, under the leadership of Miss Laura Runyon, organized a club of fifty members. There was the State Normal School, to whose faculty Miss Runyon belonged, and through her the support of the students was obtained and suffrage propaganda extended gradually to every section of the State. Mrs. Knefler, president of the St. Louis Women's Trades Union, organized a league among its members, which, under the leadership of Mrs. Sarah Spraggon and Miss Sallie Quick, did excellent work in the campaigns that followed.

In 1912 a Business Woman's Suffrage League was formed in St. Louis under the leadership of Miss Mary McGuire, a graduate of the St. Louis University Law School, and Miss Jessie Lansing Moller, which starting with 50 members, eventually numbered 250. The same year the Junior Branch of the St. Louis League was organized, which included many of the younger society girls and matrons. Miss Ann Drew (later Mrs. James Platt) was president. In Kansas City in the autumn the Southside Equal Suffrage League was formed with Mrs. Cora Kramer Leavens, president, and Miss Cora Best Jewell, secretary. A Men's Equal Suffrage League was also organized with D. H. Hoff president; J. H. Austin, vice-president; David Proctor, secretary, which did a large work in securing the big vote given to the suffrage amendment in Kansas City and Jackson county in 1914.

In 1912 the first State convention was held in September at Sedalia, where Mrs. George Gellhorn was elected president and Mrs. John W. Barringer vice-president, both of St. Louis. They went to Jefferson City in September and tried to get a suffrage plank into the platform of the Democratic State convention. Though unsuccessful it was the initial step in bringing the subject out of the parlor and lecture-room into the sphere of politics, the arena where the battle ultimately had to be fought. Twenty-eight leagues were formed this year. Miss Amelia C. Fruchte, member of the St. Louis Central High School faculty, went before the State Teachers' Association and secured its endorsement of woman suffrage.

In 1913 at the State convention held at St. Louis in September, Mrs. Walter McNab Miller, formerly of Ohio, was elected State president. She had been the leading spirit in work for suffrage in Columbia, the seat of the State University, where her husband was a professor, and in November, 1912, an organization was formed with Dr. R. H. Jesse, former president of the university, at its head. Though the State in general was still apathetic the women in the large places, especially in St. Louis and Kansas City, were alert and active. Mrs. Richardson, after two strenuous years, had been succeeded by Mrs. David O'Neil as president of the St. Louis League. She was followed in October by Mrs. John L. Lowes, who had to resign from exhaustion and Mrs. O'Neil was again elected.

The hard work that had been done was beginning to bear fruit and the Farmers' Alliance, the Prohibitionists, the Single Taxers and other organizations were seeking the cooperation of the suffrage societies. The press was giving more and more space to suffrage news. Mrs. Emily Newell Blair of Carthage was a powerful influence with country editors. The St. Louis Post Dispatch offered prizes amounting to $100 for the best arguments in favor and often contained strong editorials. Thanks largely to Miss Jane Winn, on the editorial staff of the Globe Democrat, suffrage news was seldom refused by that paper. The Kansas City Star and the Post gave strong support. Best of all, the women were gaining in courage and confidence. In September the managers of a Merchants' and Manufacturers' Street Exposition in St. Louis invited the suffragists to conduct a parade under their auspices and a large number of automobiles and auto-trucks gaily decorated with white and yellow bunting and accompanied by several bands of music went through the principal downtown streets. The crowds were respectful and occasionally enthusiastic. The enthusiasm of the paraders reached such a pitch that they left their protecting cars and marched boldly down the middle of the street, preceded by a band playing "Everybody's doing it." The details were arranged by Mrs. W. W. Boyd, Jr.

The time was judged to be ripe for an organized effort to secure action at the general election of 1914 and two plans presented themselves: First, to ask the Legislature to submit to the voters an amendment to the State constitution giving full suffrage to women; second, to secure the necessary number of signatures under the newly enacted initiative petition law to place the amendment on the ballot regardless of action by the Legislature. The former method was tried first but the latter was found to be necessary. A finance committee was appointed by the league to raise funds for the campaign and at a luncheon in St. Louis amid great enthusiasm $11,000 were pledged, which were turned over to Mrs. B. B. Graham, campaign treasurer. Headquarters were opened down town with Mrs. Knefler, campaign manager, in charge. The interest aroused throughout the State by the circulating of the petition was manifested at the State convention in Columbia, in May, 1914, which was attended by a number of delegates from the country districts. Mrs. Miller was re-elected president. On "suffrage day," May 1, men and women addressed crowds between acts at different theaters and on the steps of public buildings. Miss Fola LaFollette was the speaker at a large evening meeting and addressed the Men's City Club at luncheon the next day. The slogan was sent out far and wide, "Suffrage for Missouri in 1914." After the heavy task of obtaining 14,000 names to the petition and a strenuous campaign the amendment was defeated at the polls.

In 1915 an offer was made by a newspaper man in Monet to publish a suffrage magazine and eagerly accepted, the suffragists agreeing to furnish the material and to work up the subscriptions. Mrs. Blair was the first editor of the Missouri Woman and all went well for a few months, then the publisher failed. This was a keen disappointment but through the efforts of Miss Mary Bulkley and Percy Werner of St. Louis, Flint Garrison, president of the Garrison-Wagner Printing Company, a prominent Democrat and an ardent suffragist, became interested and agreed to publish the magazine. It was adopted as the organ of the State Federation of Women's Clubs and was endorsed by the State branch of the National Congress of Mothers and the State Parent Teachers' Association. In March, 1916, Mrs. Blair, owing to the difficulty of editing the magazine from her home in Carthage while it was published in St. Louis, resigned as editor and was succeeded by Miss Mary Semple Scott of St. Louis, who continued in that office during the remaining three years of its useful existence, until the women of the State had been partially enfranchised and the Federal Suffrage Amendment had been ratified by the Legislature.

During 1916 the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League reorganized on political lines with a Central Committee composed of a member from each of the twenty-five wards. Mrs. William C. Fordyce, who for a long time had urged this action, was unanimously elected chairman. At the convention held in Springfield in May Mrs. John R. Leighty of Kansas City succeeded Mrs. Miller, who had been elected first vice-president of the National Association and would reside in Washington. At the meeting of the board held in St. Louis in June the State association also was reorganized on political lines and a Congressional Committee of sixteen members representing the sixteen congressional districts was appointed. The St. Louis League subscribed $500 to carry on the work and Mrs. Charles Passmore was made chairman. The committees appealed to the Republican State convention to put a plank for woman suffrage in its platform but with no success. Later, after the two national parties had adopted suffrage planks, an effort was made to have the State committees adopt the same plank but they refused.

The National Democratic Convention held in St. Louis in June, 1916, offered a splendid opportunity which both State and city suffragists eagerly seized. Some unique schemes were evolved, among them the "golden lane," the idea of Mrs. Blair. It has been described as "a walkless, talkless parade" and consisted of about 7,000 women arranged in a double line on both sides of the street, the front row sitting, the back row standing, all dressed in white with yellow sashes and each one carrying a yellow parasol. They held their places on the opening day of the convention, June 14, from 10 a. m. till noon, on both sides of Locust Street for a distance of ten blocks, the route the delegates had to take in going from their headquarters in the Jefferson Hotel to the Coliseum, where the convention was held.

Another striking appeal was in the form of a beautiful and imposing tableau staged on the steps of the old Art Museum, also on the route of the delegates, which was given with an occasional interval of rest for two long hours. The details were managed by Miss Virginia Stevenson. Under a canopy of gold cloth, which cast a glow over the group below, there stood at the top of the steps "Liberty," posed by handsome Mrs. O'Neil. Grouped about her were thirteen women dressed in white representing the twelve equal suffrage States and Alaska. Farther down on the steps were the States in which only partial suffrage had been granted, impersonated by women dressed in gray. At the bottom were figures in black, representing the States where women were wholly disfranchised, extending their manacled arms to Liberty. A mass meeting was held later in the day in the auditorium of the Museum, when Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, William Jennings Bryan, U. S. Senator John F. Shafroth and Mrs. Miller addressed large and enthusiastic audiences. The Town Club, an organization of women, gave a dinner with covers laid for 300, which was followed by music and speaking in front of the Jefferson Hotel. On the same night there was street speaking on the principal down town corners for two hours, one speaker relieving another as the crowds called for more. Miss Scott brought out an impressive number of the Missouri Woman during the convention. William Burns, a well-known artist on the Post Dispatch, designed an attractive and significant cover and Miss Marguerite Martin illustrated a story by Mrs. Blair; editors of the St. Louis dailies, Louis Ely, Casper Yost and Paul W. Brown, contributed editorials and William Marion Reedy, editor of the St. Louis Mirror, wrote a charming article. The edition of 10,000 was sold at the bookstands and by volunteers who acted as "newsies." The business men advertised generously.

The result partially of all the hard work and enthusiasm was a woman suffrage plank in the platform according to the Democratic principle of State's rights, which, though not entirely satisfactory to the suffragists, was regarded as a decided victory.

The entrance of the United States in the World War in 1917 acted as a deterrent of suffrage activities, as the various organizations threw themselves whole-heartedly into war work. Mrs. Leighty, State chairman, Mrs. Stix, chairman of the St. Louis League, and other heads of suffrage societies throughout the State, had the difficult task of directing their activities in war work and at the same time keeping at the front the idea that, while working to make the world safe for democracy abroad, the cause of democracy at home demanded the speedy enfranchisement of the women of America. Missouri's quota for the Oversea Hospitals organized by the National Suffrage Association was $1,000. At a luncheon given by the St. Louis League May 8, where Mrs. Charles L. Tiffany of New York was the speaker, $4,331 were subscribed in fifteen minutes. Mrs. Miller was chairman of the Food Conservation Committee of the National Association and Mrs. George Gellhorn organized its work for Missouri. All demands of the Government were fully met.

In May, 1917, the State convention was held at Kansas City and Mrs. Miller having returned from Washington was again elected president. This year a Men's Advisory Committee in St. Louis was formed composed of 147 well-known residents organized under the following leaders: Jackson Johnson, N. A. McMillan, Ernest W. Stix, Joseph Woracek, Edward F. Goltra, E. N. Grossman, Benjamin Gratz, J. L. Babler. A teachers' division including many thousand was formed, with Miss Tillie Gecks as president. Largely through the efforts of the executive secretary of the St. Louis league, Mrs. Lucille B. Lowenstein, its membership in 1918 was increased to 8,000. Mrs. Stix, resigning because of illness, Mrs. Gellhorn was elected.

At the State convention held at Macon in May, 1918, Mrs. Miller was re-elected. Owing to the splendid organization of the St. Louis League it was able to invite the National Suffrage Association to hold its Golden Jubilee in this city in 1919. It was held March 23-29 inclusive at the Statler Hotel with two evening mass meetings at the Odeon, and was declared by Mrs. Catt to have been "the best convention ever held anywhere." A large group of women worked indefatigably for weeks in advance to make it a success but to Mrs. Gellhorn, chairman of the Local Arrangements Committee, must go the chief honor. Second must be placed the name of Mrs. Stix, who had raised the funds to defray the local expenses.

On the evening of March 28 was held one of the mass meetings. The large auditorium of the Odeon, beautifully decorated for the occasion under the supervision of Mrs. Fred Taussig and Mrs. Everett W. Pattison, was filled to overflowing. On the stage were Mrs. Catt, Dr. Shaw and the other national officers, also the speakers of the evening, among whom were Governor Henry J. Allen of Kansas and Miss Helen Frazier of England. Suddenly music was heard from the back. It heralded the Missouri delegation, composed of Mrs. Miller, Mrs. David O'Neil, Mrs. W. R. Haight and Miss Marie B. Ames, who had been in Jefferson City for ninety-six days working in the interest of the Presidential suffrage bill and had just returned with the joyful tidings that it had passed both Houses! The delegation was met at the door and escorted down the center aisle by Mrs. Gellhorn, holding aloft a banner bearing the words, "Now we are voters." The large audience rose spontaneously and amidst deafening cheers and wild waving of handkerchiefs and hats the women ascended to the stage, where they were individually presented to the audience by the presiding officer, Dr. Shaw, who congratulated them and the rest of the women of Missouri on the great victory. [Full account of convention in Chapter XVIII, Volume V.]

To celebrate the success of this great convention and especially the winning of Presidential suffrage, the St. Louis League at its annual meeting in April gave a "victory tea" in the Statler Hotel. The guests of honor were Senator James W. McKnight and Representative Walter E. Bailey, who had so successfully led the suffrage forces in the Senate and House. With music and the presentation to Mrs. O'Neil, in acknowledgment of her long and faithful services, of an illuminated testimonial, it was a delightful afternoon. Mrs. Fred English was elected president of the league. At the State convention held at St. Louis Mrs. Gellhorn was elected president, Mrs. Miller honorary president, Mrs. David O'Neil honorary vice-president of the association.

With Presidential suffrage won, the work before both State and city association was obviously the organization and education of the new voters. At a State meeting held in Kansas City May 3, a "budget" system was adopted and a definite quota assigned to each county. Kansas City raised $3,000 at a banquet in the Muehlbach Hotel, Mrs. J. B. White presiding. St. Louis then raised its quota of $6,000 and another $6,000 was pro-rated throughout the remainder of the State, giving $15,000.

The next step in order was the establishment of Citizenship Schools and the slogan "Every Missouri Woman an Intelligent Voter in 1920" was adopted. Under the direction of Mrs. Olive B. Swan, executive secretary of the State association, citizenship schools were arranged for in every one of the sixteen congressional districts. Miss Ames and Miss Lutie Stearns, two expert organizers, traveled through the State holding meetings and conducting schools. Mrs. Leighty and Mrs. Alfred Buschman assisted in this work. Mrs. English and Mrs. Clarke conducted all those in St. Louis. The Young Women's Christian Association allowed them the use of its auditorium for the first suffrage normal school. Some mothers of families got up at five o'clock and did part of their day's work in order to be able to attend; some women traveled miles in order to do so; others came to night classes after a hard day's work in office or school room. The St. Louis Board of Education recognized the importance of this work and offered to incorporate the citizenship schools in the night school system. It furnished the building and paid the instructors, the St. Louis League managed the schools. The response of the colored women to these opportunities was especially noteworthy; in one school over 300 were in constant attendance. Mrs. McBride, secretary of the Jackson county suffrage league, conducted classes throughout the county. Kansas City secured Professor Isador Loeb of the University of Missouri for a course of lectures on government. All the women's clubs united into one school. The course included principles of government, organization, publicity, public speaking, suffrage history and argument, parliamentary law and use of literature.

* * * * *

The submission of the Federal Suffrage Amendment by Congress in June, 1919, was celebrated with the greatest joy throughout the State. Prominent suffragists in St. Louis waited upon Mayor Keil, the board of aldermen and other city officials and escorted them in gaily decorated automobiles to the steps of the Post Office, where the Mayor, an old friend of woman suffrage, made a rousing speech. Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Gellhorn also spoke and Charles M. Hay closed the meeting with an eloquent address. In Kansas City a similar meeting was held in one of the large theaters.

RATIFICATION. Steps were at once taken to secure the ratification of the amendment by the Legislature. Edward F. Goltra, National Democratic Committeeman, a proved friend, and Ben Neals, State Democratic chairman, were often asked for advice and other help. Jacob Babler, Republican National Committeeman, and W. L. Cole, Republican State chairman, Mayor Keil and many others of both political parties assisted the suffrage associations in placing before Governor Gardner the urgency of calling a special session. He was not slow in responding and one was called for July 2, 1919. All the suffrage organizations in the State, with the Federated Clubs and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, started to work immediately to make sure of a large majority. Legislators were visited by their constituents and letters and telegrams were showered on them by prominent men and women from other sections of the State.

On July 1 the suffragists gathered in Jefferson City and opened a State board meeting with a luncheon and speeches at the New Central Hotel to which every one was welcome. At 7 o'clock the ratification dinner took place, with members of the Legislature as the invited guests of the State association. Every foot of space in the dining-room, ante-room and lobby of the hotel was filled with tables. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor were escorted to the hall by prominent suffragists and both made stirring appeals.

At 10 o'clock the morning of July 3, a procession of women wended its way from the hotel to the beautiful new Capitol. The yellow parasols, which had figured in every suffrage celebration since the time of the historic Golden Lane in 1916, were everywhere in evidence and yellow banners, ribbons and flowers gave the dominant note of color to the scene. The galleries in both Senate and House were filled. The resolution passed the House by a vote of 125 to 4; the Senate by a vote of 29 to 3.

A great sorrow came in the midst of the rejoicing, as the news was received that Dr. Anna Howard Shaw died the evening before the ratification. She had addressed the Legislature in other years and both Houses passed resolutions of regret.

Missouri women will forever remember gratefully the 50th General Assembly, as it did all possible for it to do toward their enfranchisement. It memorialized Congress urging the passage of the Federal Suffrage Amendment; it passed the Presidential suffrage bill and it promptly ratified the Amendment.

A called convention of the State association was held October 16-18, at the Hotel Statler in St. Louis and the name was changed to the Missouri League of Women Voters. Mrs. Gellhorn was elected chairman. Every district was represented by the 122 delegates present.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. 1913. A petition signed by 14,000 voters of the State, of whom 8,000 were from St. Louis, was presented to the Legislature asking it to submit an amendment for woman suffrage at the election of 1914. The women who had had charge of the petition were Mrs. David O'Neil, president, Miss Mary Bulkley, Miss Charlotte Rumbold and Mrs. William C. Fordyce of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League and Mrs. St. Clair Moss and Mrs. Rose Ingels of Columbia. A letter had been sent to every legislator saying that all he was asked to do was to help get the amendment before the voters. The resolution was introduced by Representative Thomas J. Roney and Senator Anderson Craig. It was referred to the House and Senate Committees on Constitutional Amendment and a joint hearing was set for February 6. A number of women from different parts of the State appeared before these committees and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National Suffrage Association, disarmed all prejudice. There was a unanimous favorable report from the Senate Committee and only one adverse vote in the House Committee. A week later the resolution was sent to engrossment by both Houses with but five dissenting votes in the Senate while in the House the "ayes" were so overwhelming that the "noes" were not counted. The women went home feeling that the fight was won but the last week of the session the resolution was taken off the calendar, referred back to the committees and pigeon-holed.

The women then decided to resort to the newly created device of the "initiative petition," by which the amendment could be submitted without legislative action. Mrs. Walter McNab Miller was urged to take charge of the work, the St. Louis Suffrage League agreeing to look after the three most difficult congressional districts. She began the latter part of August to canvass a State that has 114 counties, in many of which there are no railroads and the other roads are almost impassable. After six weeks of constant travel and hard work she obtained only 1,000 names. The cooperation of Mrs. Nellie Burger, president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the only woman's organization in the State outside of the regular suffrage societies which had endorsed suffrage, was then secured. The St. Louis and Kansas City leagues took the most thickly populated districts and the others were apportioned among little bands of suffragists, who, under the leadership of Mrs. Miller, worked steadily for the next six months. At last the required 14,000 signatures were obtained and representatives from each district went to Jefferson City to present the petitions to Secretary of State Cornelius Roach. He received them in a most friendly manner, saying that he hoped this work, which had been done at such great cost, would bring the desired reward.

It had only begun and the task during the next six months was to induce the men to vote for the amendment, which now had an assured place on the ballot. Help came from the outside, as well as within the State. Ruth Hanna (Mrs. Medill) McCormick of Chicago, chairman of the Congressional Committee of the National Association, sent an organizer and paid her expenses for four months. From friends outside $3,264 were sent and about $1,800 were raised in various ways in the State. Dr. Shaw and Miss Jane Addams spoke in several cities and other prominent speakers were Mrs. Desha Breckinridge of Kentucky, Miss Helen Todd of California, Mrs. McCormick and "General" Rosalie Jones of New York. The State and county fairs were utilized. Headquarters were rented in a big downtown building in St. Louis with Miss Rumbold as director of publicity, Miss Genevieve Tierney and Mrs. R. L. Sanford in charge of the business part, Mrs. Alice Curtis Moyer-Wing head of the speakers' bureau and Miss Bulkley treasurer. Mrs. Blair had charge of the press work for the State, Miss Clara Sommerville for St. Louis.[104] The St. Louis Times, the Kansas City Post and the Warrensburg Daily Star allowed the women to get out a special suffrage edition.

All the hard work of a year and a half was in vain. On Nov. 3, 1914, the woman suffrage amendment went down to defeat with fourteen other amendments on the ballot. More votes were cast on this one than on any other—182,257 ayes; 322,463 noes; lost by 140,206. In Kansas City the adverse majority was only 1,000. Thirteen counties were carried.

1915. It had been decided at the first State board meeting after the defeat to attempt again to have an amendment submitted by the Legislature. Mrs. Miller took charge of the work and remained six weeks in Jefferson City. The resolution was written by Judge Robert Franklin Walker, now Chief Justice of Missouri, and was introduced by Senator Craig and Representative Roney, as before. A joint hearing was arranged at which twelve Missouri women, representing various professions and occupations, spoke five minutes each. It passed the House by 88 ayes to 42 noes. Through the efforts of Senator William Phelps, who was showered with letters and telegrams from his constituents, the committee, a majority of whom were violently opposed to woman suffrage, was persuaded to report it favorably but it did not come to a vote in the Senate.

1916. As the Federal Amendment was now well advanced and the bad effect on it of the loss of a State campaign was clearly recognized, the National Board asked the officers of each State association to refrain from entering into one. Therefore it was agreed at the State convention in May, 1916, to give up the projected campaign.

1917. A bill for Presidential suffrage, which was approved by the national officers, was introduced. Headquarters were opened in the Capitol with Miss Geraldine Buchanan of California, Mo., in charge and a strong lobby of State women remained there during the session—Mrs. Leighty, Mrs. Fordyce, Mrs. O'Neil, Mrs. Passmore and Mrs. Grossman of St. Louis. Mrs. Katherine Smith, daughter of Judge Walker, and Miss Matilda Dahlmeyer of Jefferson City gave effective aid. Percy Werner, a lawyer of St. Louis, agreed to defend its legal status before the Legislature if necessary and in January it was introduced by Senator Robert J. Mitchell of Aurora and Representative Nick Cave of Fulton. It was reported favorably by the House Committee but when it came to a hearing before the Senate committee there appeared Miss Minnie Bronson from New York, secretary of the National Anti-Suffrage Association. The speaker in favor was Mrs. Fordyce, a granddaughter of the pioneer suffragist, Mrs. Beverly Allen. The House passed it by 87 to 37 but the Senate defeated it.

Missouri women now turned their attention to furthering the Federal Suffrage Amendment. The Congressional Committee appointed for this purpose worked indefatigably and early in January, armed with two large bundles of petitions for it, one from the State and one from St. Louis, aggregating 75,000 names, a delegation went to Washington. Mrs. Miller, vice-president of the National Association, arranged, with the assistance of Miss Mabel Stone, daughter of the Missouri Senator, William R. Stone, for a meeting in his office between them and the State's members of Congress. They presented their petitions and made earnest appeals for the amendment.

Suffragists throughout the State kept up a constant stream of telegrams and letters to the Missouri members and Governor Gardner used his influence. Senator Stone, and after his death Senator Xenophon P. Wilfley, were pledged to the amendment, and Senator Selden P. Spencer, who later was elected, could positively be depended upon. All possible efforts were concentrated upon Senator James A. Reed but to no avail. To disprove his statements that his constituents were not in favor of woman suffrage, the Jackson county campaign committee, with Mrs. J. B. White of Kansas City chairman, sent him the signatures of 47,382 women and 12,583 men from his district, asking for it. When the amendment came to a vote in 1918, Senator Wilfley and all the Representatives voted in the affirmative except Meeker of St. Louis, who died soon afterwards. In 1919 Senator Spencer and the entire delegation in the House voted in favor. Senator Reed fought it every time it came before the Senate.

Delegations of women appeared before the State conventions of both parties on the same day in August, 1918, and asked for a suffrage plank. Mrs. Miller, Mrs. O'Neil and Mrs. Stix attended the Democratic convention in Jefferson City; Mrs. Gellhorn and Mrs. Grossman, assisted by others, looked after the Republican convention in St. Louis. They were invited to speak and each party put a very good suffrage plank in its platform.

1919. Work for Presidential suffrage was continued. Extra pressure was brought to bear on the Senate. Two national organizers, Miss Ames and Miss Alma Sasse, were sent into various senatorial districts to enlist the help of influential people and when the time came for a vote it undoubtedly was favorable pressure from home that kept some of the Senators in line. When the General Assembly convened Jan. 8, 1919, Governor Gardner recommended such suffrage legislation as the women might desire. Through the courtesy of Lieutenant Governor Crossley, President of the Senate, and S. F. O'Fallon, Speaker of the House, it was the first bill introduced.

On February 6 the Presidential bill was put on the calendar over the adverse report of the Election Committee, an action almost without precedent. On the 11th the Speaker left the chair and delivered a powerful address urging its passage. Representative Frank Farris also made a strong speech in its favor and the final vote was 122 ayes, 8 noes. The opposition used every device to prevent it from being brought up for the final reading in the Senate but finally the time was set for March 28. On that date two of the Senators favoring it were absent and their votes were absolutely necessary. Senator David W. Stark was at his home in Westline and Senator Howard Gray had been called on important business to Caruthersville. On the 27th Mrs. Miller, Mrs. O'Neil, Mrs. Haight and Miss Ames, who had been in Jefferson City for over three months, met for final consultation. Senator Stark responded to a telephone call and promised to be in his seat the next morning. It was found it would be impossible for Senator Gray to arrive on time. They were in despair but a savior was at hand. Democratic National Committeeman Edward F. Goltra offered to charter a special train to bring Senator Gray, a Republican, to Jefferson City in time to cast his vote. This offer was gladly and gratefully accepted and the Senator left Caruthersville that night. The next morning all the other Senators were in their seats, the opposition complacent and confident that the bill could not pass. While Senator McKnight was reading a telegram from the National Suffrage Convention in session at St. Louis urging the immediate passage of the Presidential suffrage bill Senator Gray quietly walked in and took his seat! The opposition, out-witted and out-generaled, threw up their hands and the bill was passed by a vote of 21 to 12, some of its former opponents voting for it. On April 5 in the presence of the board of the State association it was signed by Governor Gardner.

FOOTNOTES:

[102] The History is indebted for this chapter to Miss Marie R. Garesche, a founder and first vice-president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League.

[103] Thirteen men were enrolled this year, Eugene Angert, George Blackman, R. W. Boysselier, Dr. W. W. Boyd, Mr. Chauvenet, E. M. Grossman, Charles Haanel, Stephen Hart, Charles Van Dyke Hill, Dr. John C. Morfit, H. J. Peifer, Judge R. E. Rombauer and Percy Werner.

[104] Because of lack of space it has been impossible to include the long lists of names prepared of women who worked all over the State.



CHAPTER XXV.

MONTANA.[105]

Before 1900 the National American Woman Suffrage Association, under the presidency of Miss Susan B. Anthony, helped to organize suffrage societies in Montana and several conventions were held. In 1899 Dr. Maria M. Dean was elected president. She was succeeded by Mrs. Clara B. Tower, whose report to the national suffrage convention of 1903 said:

On May 1, 1902, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, National president, Miss Gail Laughlin and Miss Laura A. Gregg, organizers, arrived in Helena and in conjunction with the State officers planned a campaign to include a meeting in every town of any importance. Mrs. Catt re-organized the Helena Suffrage Club and remained two weeks, conducting a large correspondence, addressing all the women's organizations in the city and a mass meeting. Miss Laughlin spent these two weeks in Butte, where she spoke to a number of labor unions and obtained resolutions strongly endorsing woman suffrage from the Silver Bow Trades and Labor Assembly, a delegate body representing 10,000 men. Mrs. Catt then went to Butte and for ten days she and Miss Laughlin delivered addresses before the principal organizations of the city, among which were the Woman's Club and the Trades Council. Their visit closed with a mass meeting at which a large number of names were secured for membership in the Equal Suffrage Club, which was organized immediately afterward. The campaign was then placed in charge of Miss Laughlin, who did the field work, and Miss Gregg, who arranged the dates from the headquarters in Helena. The speaking before labor unions was continued through the State and not a union or delegate body of laboring men failed to endorse woman suffrage. Miss Laughlin, by invitation, addressed the State labor convention, representing all the labor unions, and resolutions strongly endorsing woman suffrage and the submission of an amendment were passed with only one dissenting voice on a roll-call vote.